Video communication is an alternative to a regular phone call or an in-person meeting. You can place a video call with your smartphone, tablet, or computer. It lets you see someone’s face while you are talking to them. Video conferencing software may also have built-in features such as chat, screen sharing, and recording.
What kinds of video communication software are there?
Shareable meetings
Services like Zoom, Webex, and Microsoft Teams let you video call from any computer or mobile device. When you schedule a meeting, you can share a link for other people to join your meeting room. The person you are talking to does not need to have an account with the video platform in order to join your meeting.
There is a limit to how many people can be in a free meeting (up to 100 people) and how long the meeting can be (40-60 minutes). You can pay a subscription fee to get access to longer or bigger meetings. You might also have access to those features through your school or employer.
In addition to speaking over video, you can share documents or write chat messages during the meeting.
In-app calling
Some video calls require that you and your friend both have the same app. Examples are FaceTime, WhatsApp, and Signal.